Where do you find the link between Appalachian string bands and West
African talking drums?

Two years living in rural Ghana and hearing African horse-hair fiddles
led jazz composer David Rogers to seek out the connections between rural
string music and polyrhythmic percussion. The findings can be heard on
the new CD, "JUMP FOR GEORGE" by Imaginary
Homeland (Jumbie Records, JMB 0002).

The opening track, "Kanawha Girl," begins with Rogers's keening
saxophone playing a Kentucky folk song joined by the aquatic pulse of
a Ghanaian water drum. The next piece, "Anthem," brings African-style
fiddling together with Rogers's own playing on the Ghanaian talking drum.
The CD's title track hums with the buzzing spider-webbed gourds of the
Ghanaian xylophone.

"With praises to a dozen genres and fealty to none, this quartet
is creating an original vocabulary that endorses both jazz and folk as
equal partners in their own musical nation." - Dirty Linen Magazine

"From Appalachian folk chants to African rhythms and melodies to the Latin flavors of 'El Sonero,' Imaginary Homeland's saxophone, violin, upright bass and percussion chart a course that is respectful of musical traditions, but seems blissfully unaware of the lines that divide them"- Splendid

"Combines the best of contemporary jazz with West African instruments
and rhythms... makes you want to get up and dance!"
- Ann Arbor
Observer

"The 'jazz' label fails to encompass the fresh spirit of this music.
Like any cross-cultural collaboration, it may be spurned by purists. But
there's a certain logic in combining the folk music of people on either
side of the Atlantic. Imaginary Homeland is a nice place to visit; come
listen for a while."- Spin the Globe, KAOS Radio